Wk 11 – Artist Conversation – Kyle Kruse

Kyle Kruse is a very interesting artist here at CSULB. He was born in Northern California but has never live in one place for more than a year for most of his life. That is until he moved to Long Beach, which he lived in for six years. In the future he would like to move to the U.K. or New York and try to get his Masters in Fine Arts. He is currently getting his BFA with a focus in Print Making. This is his last semester at CSULB and this exhibit is his senior project which took him ten months to complete.

Formal Analysis

The exhibit takes you into a dark and somewhat eerie room. There are four components to the exhibit. On one wall are circular sculptures with masks painted on them. On the ground are the corresponding masks that go with these paintings of the masks. On the opposite wall are three different screens playing different scenes. These play a fire or video of a person in the mask in the middle of the desert. And last of all is the ground of the exhibit itself. It is covered in dirt and small rocks from the paintings all the way to the screens on the other side of the exhibit.

Content Analysis

This exhibit is based on Greek mythology. Kyle chose this as the base of his exhibit because of the near universality and recognition it has in Western civilization. He also chose it because of his own unfamiliarity with the topic. But the main take away that Kyle wants his audience to have is a sensory experience. Even if this is just experiencing the feeling of being creeped out, the exhibit will have fulfilled its purpose.

Synthesis

I really liked this exhibit, not only because the masks and art looked really cool but because of the atmosphere and feeling I got walking into the exhibit. Walking in it was very dark and I really couldn’t see what was in the space between the masks and the screens which made me a little nervous. Once my eyes had adapted to the low light I was able to see more and explore the exhibit more. Having the masks and the paintings lined up with each other gave me the sense that I was in the middle of a ritual or sacred place. The dirt and rocks on the ground especially made me feel uneasy because I could not see what I was stepping on and gave me the feeling that something might be lurking in the darkness. Overall I really enjoyed Kyle’s exhibit not only for the art but for the entire experience it gave me.